


Coffee, College, and Chaos

by FrogsAndFandoms



Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), M/M, Slow Burn, So much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26011462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrogsAndFandoms/pseuds/FrogsAndFandoms
Summary: A multi-chapter coffee au/college au with all the sanders sides bois + emile and remy
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. Curious Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting anything or attempting to finish a fic so please don't murder me if this isn't updated until next year  
> And without further ado, enjoy :)

“Things my heart used to know, once upon a december.” Roman sang, prancing across the room as he hung up posters for the Winter Talent Show. 

“Do you ever stop singing?” Virgil smirked, pretending that he hadn’t been listening in on Roman in awe the entire time. Roman gasped and turned around, dramatically holding one hand to his heart. 

“I’m sorry, did the melodic sound of my voice disturb you, series of unfortunate events?” Virgil rolled his eyes. 

“THAT’S the best insult you have?” Roman sputtered angrily.

“Alright thing one and thing two, break it up”. Their manager walked in, grinning.

“Yes Mr. Sanders”, they said unanimously. 

“Guys I have one rule that isn’t one the owners set for me. One rule. Call me Thomas.” Virgil and Roman made eye contact and smirked. 

“Yes, Mr.Thomas.” Thomas spun around and stomped out of the room sarcastically, laughing while he did. 

“Kids these days.” He called over his shoulder.

Virgil went back to work, sweeping and cleaning the cafe to prepare for opening. He pretended to not notice Roman’s continued singing as Roman finished the talent show fliers and started cleaning the dessert case. But Virgil couldn’t stop himself from watching Roman through his peripherals. He made sure to do it in a way that wasn’t too obvious, but apparently he hadn’t been careful enough. “Sooo, what’s so interesting over there, Virge?” Virgil immediately turned as red as the lipstick Roman had once tried to force him to wear. 

“Oh uh nothing I just had something in my eye I’ll get back to work right away Thomas.” Virgil nervously attempted to hide how hard he was blushing from Roman, but Roman seemed to be way too oblivious to notice. The rest of the morning went on like usual, and their shift was calm, with no unanticipated Karens showing up to ruin it.

Virgil re-entered the coffee shop at about 5:15, not too long after their closing time. Thomas had sent a text that he needed to talk to Virgil, so as Virgil entered the shop he grimaced, bracing himself for the impending lecture. Thomas sat at a table right near the door, but still fairly in the middle of the restaurant. “Okay, what did I do this time.” Thomas smiled softly, a bit of sadness in his eyes. Virgil sat down across from Thomas 

“Virgil, you aren’t in trouble.”

“Well I mean it's just when you say you want to talk you make it seem like i’m in trouble and I know you tell me i’m not but I never know if I might be and I didn’t want to assume.” Virgil rambled nervously for a little, staring down and fidgeting with his hoodie strings, before Thomas cut him off. 

“Okay, Virgil, I didn’t realize that made you uncomfortable, I'll try to be more mindful of it from now on.” Virgil looked a bit confused. “Virge, you’ve been here for a while, so I didn’t think i’d have to say this, but I hope you know that if you need something you can just ask.” He laughed to himself for a second. “You know, reasonably. I told that to Roman on his first day and he asked for a raise.” They both chuckled quietly. “But seriously, if you ever feel uncomfortable, please tell us.” Thomas smiled warmly. 

“So uh, is that all you needed to say to me? Not that it wasn’t important or anything that was really nice and all. I'm just wondering if I should go?” Virgil asked nervously.

Thomas clapped his hands. “Nope, actually I brought you here for a completely different reason.”

“Huh?”

“So the Annual Winter Talent Show is coming up in a few weeks.”

“Uh yeah, what about it?” 

“Weeeell, Joan, Talyn and I were really hoping that all of our staff would be able to participate.” Virgil’s heart plummeted. “Look, I know you’re uncomfortable performing, but we would really appreciate it. And no one would be judging you.” Noticing Virgil’s increasing fidgeting and paleness, he sighed. “I won’t force you to do anything. That wouldn’t be right. But just, think about it.” As Thomas stood up, he said “I have to go, would you mind locking up?”

“Nope.” Thomas sighed again, before exiting the cafe to walk to his parked car outside. 

When Thomas had left, Virgil stood up and walked over to the bulletin board, staring at the mass of fliers that Roman had put up. Then he walked over to the quaint corner stage, which was a small duct taped area in the cafe with a bunch of stools set up around it to seat the audience. Virgil picked up the guitar that was leaning against the wall, and when he was certain there was no one watching or listening, he began to play.

“Why are there so many, songs about rainbows? What’s on the other, side.” Virgil’s playing was flawless, and it matched the sweet and surprisingly angelic voice that came with it. Right as Virgil got to the chorus, he was so invested that he didn’t hear a certain theatre major enter the back of the cafe. 

Roman walked in, almost about to announce that he had forgotten his dorm key like an idiot, but he stopped when he heard unfamiliar singing. He peeked quickly around the corner to see who this person thought they were to have that good of a voice, and managed to hold back what would have been a quite audible gasp. He was confused, and alarmed that he had not known about Virgil’s secret talent, but he was quickly distracted by the melodious sounds of Virgil’s singing. He leaned against the wall, listening in but out of sight until he heard the song end and was certain that Virgil could not notice him leave. Roman quickly grabbed his keys from the counter and dashed out the door without alerting Virgil to his presence. 

As Roman walked back to his dorm, he sang the song that Virgil had, fantasizing about a duet, wishing it could be real. But a voice deep down told Roman that it would never be true.


	2. Computer Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gayness continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are some new characters finally being introduced? :0

“Really Emile, I don’t see the point of going to a cafe when we can just pick up more coffee from the store.” 

“Oh c’mon Lo, they make good coffee, and besides, the store is much farther away.” 

Logan sighed. “While I am glad that for once you are concerned about efficiency, having to wait in line at a cafe would take up a great deal of time, and it doesn’t solve the issue of needing to buy more coffee.” 

“Well, too late. We’re already here.” Emile pushed open the door to the quaint shop, and Logan’s nose was immediately filled with the smell of fresh baked pastries. Emile grinned. “Oh, and by the way, they make really good jam tarts here.” Logan grumbled, knowing that Emile was aware of his weakness. 

Emile and Logan walked up to the counter to order. There was a line, but it was only about three people. When Logan finally got to the front, he immediately almost fainted. Manning the register was one of the most gorgeous boys he had ever seen. The boy had fluffy light brown hair, round glasses, and eyes that sparkled with warmth. 

“Welcome to the Mind Palace Cafe, can I take your order?” Logan stuttered for a few seconds before Emile swooped in and ordered for the both of them. Logan looked at the boy’s name tag, and it read Patton. _Patton_. He thought. _Not exactly a name you would expect, and yet it fits so well_. “Oh, are either of you students at Crofter’s University? We have student discounts.” 

“Yes, we’re actually both psychology majors.” Emile supplied. 

Patton smiled. “Oh, really? That’s great! I’m actually a student too, but i’m majoring in philosophy.” 

Logan managed to regain his composure. “Well then, it is likely that we will see you around campus.”

Patton nodded excitedly. “It’s so great to meet new people from the school. Alright, well I have to get back to work, but I hope we can talk later.” Logan nodded awkwardly, and Emile led the both of them to a table in the corner of the cafe next to the windows. 

“Soooooo.” Emile smirked. Logan groaned, knowing what was about to ensue. “Patton, huh?”

Logan seemed puzzled. “Do you know him?” 

“Sorta, he tends to do a lot of the morning shifts, and I've seen him around campus. He’s pretty perky, innocent, you know, typical cinnamon roll behavior.” 

“Emile, he is a human, not a pastry.”

Emile facepalmed. “It’s a figure of speech, Logan. Sometimes I forget how oblivious to metaphors you can be.”

Logan looked offended. “I’m sorry that I just do not see the usefulness of metaphors in conversation when a person could easily convey their meaning in a more straightforward way.”

Emile sighed. “You don’t have to apologize, I shouldn’t have been pushy. Anyway, stop trying to change the subject, let's talk about Patton.” Emile hadn’t thought it was possible for Logan to look more annoyed, but he had just been proven wrong.

“Exactly what is there to talk about?” Logan said in a standoffish manner. 

“Look, i’m just saying, it wouldn’t do you a lot of harm to relax a bit for once.”

Logan stood up. “As much as I love having you meddle with my personal life against my will, I believe my coffee is ready, and I desperately need it to stay sane right now.” Emile looked down regretfully, contemplating what might have been a better route of conversation.

“You know, if you’re gonna stare at someone, do it more subtly.” 

Patton jumped slightly. “Oh, uh hey kiddo, didn’t see ya there. What’re ya talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb Patton, that’s Roman’s job. Not gonna lie though, didn’t think your type would be robo dude.” 

Patton sputtered slightly. “He’s not a robot, Virgil.”

“Well he sure dresses like one. A dress shirt and tie at a coffee shop? Really? Anyway, he goes to the university, right?”

“Yup!”

Virgil smirked. “Whaddya thinks his major? Probably like law or business or something.” Virgil leaned against the counter. 

“Actually, he’s studying psychology.” Patton said with a slight frown.

Virgil laughed slightly. “Would not have pegged him for that. I assumed he’d want to learn as little about human emotion as possible.” 

Patton frowned. “Virge, that’s a bit mean. We don’t even know the guy, we shouldn’t judge him.”

Virgil raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave you alone.” He smirked. “Just try not to look so distracted, okay?”

Patton crossed his arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Logan got up and grabbed his coffee from Virgil, paid, and then left the cafe immediately. Logan was friends with Emile, and found him to be quite interesting and even pleasant to be around, but sometimes Emile didn’t know when to stop talking.


	3. Feelings are Fatal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S ANGST TIME MOTHERTRUCKERS  
> That being said, TW: ANXIETY ATTACK so if that might trigger you than PLEASE do not read this or at least skip the part in this chapter that's marked trigger warning  
> Also sorry this chapter is like REALLY long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long to update, I needed to do a little research for this and I've been busy  
> Also, I would like to thank my awesome amazing spectacular friend who beta'd this because she helped by fixing some of my horrendous grammar and also keeping me sane at midnight when I wrote this, and even though she refuses to give me her ao3 account I still want to credit her in some way  
> Lastly, I changed the general rating because there's gonna be cursing, not that the rating ever stops any kids

Today was the day. Roman _finally_ had a shift with Virgil, and he was ready to ask Virgil about his singing. Roman was pretty sure Virgil wouldn’t want anyone to know, so he would talk to him when they were closing and it would just be the two of them. Then again, Roman was unsure why Virgil would even be the slightest bit self-conscious, with his perfect hair and his gorgeous brown eyes and his perfectly angelic voice and no what are you _talking about?_ Roman hated Sir Mopes-a-lot. Still, Roman decided that it would be in his best interest to respect what he assumed Virgil would want, and to avoid a possible (but unlikely, because Roman was always confident in his plans) confrontation in front of any customers or during their shift. 

Roman and Virgil had the last shift that day, so they started chatting as they closed up the shop. “And so I'm already wondering how this lady is going to handle putting Patton levels of sugar in her coffee, when she goes and orders _seven shots of espresso with it!”_ Roman said dramatically, eyes wide. Virgil hid a smile and laughed quietly.

Roman realized that if he was going to bring up Virgil’s singing, now was the time to do it. “Oh, by the way, the other day I forgot my keys here and I went to pick them up here after my class ended, and I kind of heard you singing.”

Virgil went pale. “You _what_?”

Roman raised his hands in front of his chest to show that he meant no harm. “I just wanted to say that even though you seem a bit self-conscious of it, your singing is beautiful.” 

At this point, Virgil was so full of anger that it almost seemed as if he was shaking. “ _Why_ would you listen in if you knew I was self conscious? You didn’t think that maybe there was a legitimate reason why I made sure no one was listening? You didn’t think that maybe you should respect my privacy and what I obviously wanted and just _leave me alone_?” Virgil stormed off, and ran into the alley right outside the shop. Roman, confused and upset, just blinked rapidly at the spot he had run from.

TW:ANXIETY ATTACK

Virgil sat down and leaned against the wall of the alley, his breathing hard and uncontrolled. He was still shaking, but it was no longer out of anger. He started scratching at his arms and legs, which was a nervous habit he wasn’t quite sure where he had picked it up from. His mind was racing and he couldn’t think straight (though really he could never think straight). His mind filled with countless imaginary worst case scenarios that could happen as a result of the incident. Virgil could hear his heart pounding in his chest. “Shit,” Virgil swore, feeling his heart rate spike. 

“Are you alright?” 

Virgil looked up, and saw the face of the man who had been at the coffee shop the other day, the one who was definitely part robot, standing over him. The man crouched down. “My name is Logan. You don’t have to answer verbally, you can just shake your head yes or no if you prefer that, but are you alright?” Virgil shook his head to answer no. “Okay, I’m going to help you calm down. First I need you to breathe in for four seconds, and hold that breath for four seconds. Now exhale for four seconds and hold that breath for four seconds.” Virgil repeated this until his breathing had slowed enough that he could speak. Logan sat down across from him. “Can you do me a favor and name five things that you can see?”

Virgil looked around. “Uh, you.”

Logan nodded. “Okay, that’s one, four more.”

“Street, impending doom, loss of friendship, window.”

“Now name four things that you can feel.”

“Stress, fear, wall, dirty ground.”

“Three things that you can hear.”

“Some car honking, people talking on the sidewalk, someone yelling at another driver.”

“Two things that you can smell.”

“Someone smoking, and leftover coffee on my apron from when a person spilled their drink on me this morning.”

“And lastly, one thing that you can taste.”

“The donut that Roman snuck me as we were closing that Thomas pretended not to see.” Logan moved over to sit next to Virgil. “How did you know to do any of that?” Virgil asked, puzzled.

END OF TW

“I’m a psychology student. Plus I like to know how the brain works, and how to help people in moments of stress. Anyway, you don’t really have to talk about what happened, and I won’t force you, but it does sometimes help to just talk to someone impartial.”

Virgil sighed. “It's whatever. If I ever do end up seeing you again though, never mention this. Basically my coworker Roman overheard me yesterday doing a thing I'm okay at but insecure about, and even though Roman knew I wouldn’t want him to listen he listened anyway. He’s just so damn oblivious and I mean…he flirts with me. He flirts with _everyone_ , and he obviously has no clue that I think of him in a different way.” He looks over at Logan, who started awkwardly shifting when Virgil mentioned more feeling-sy things. “Oh, uh, sorry, that’s probably not very interesting to you.”

Logan stopped fidgeting. He sighed. “It’s not exactly my area of...expertise, but if you just need someone to listen, I’ll do my best. Plus, I sort of get what you mean.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, smirking a little at this surprising discovery. “Oh?”

Logan blushed. “Well um, your coworker Patton is, uh, quite attractive. And my friend Emile kind of noticed my apparent awkwardness upon meeting Patton and started teasing me. Emile is great and all, but sometimes he just doesn’t really know when to stop talking. So that part I understand.”

Virgil nodded. “I get what you mean. I’ve had a crush on Roman for years, but sometimes he just doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up. By the way,” Virgil turned to Logan. What were you doing over here? I’ve never seen you around here except for the other day.” Logan sighed and Virgil immediately panicked. “I mean, um, if it’s personal you don’t have to say. I won’t force you, I was just curious.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I actually came here because Emile is usually here. He’s the only friend I have and he’s my roommate, so it’s kind of a pain when we fight. He’s been avoiding me for a day or two and he tends to come here, so I thought I might be able to find him.”

“I’m not stopping you from finding him am I?”

“No, no. We have a while until class anyway, and I could probably talk to him there.”

“I’ve seen Emile around the shop, but i’ve never really talked to him. What’s he like?” Virgil asked.

“Well, he’s a lot like Patton in a way. Or at least how Patton seems. He’s very goofy, and he likes happy things and cartoons. He’s actually unexpectedly devious, though.” Virgil looked somewhat shocked but tried to hide it. “Funnily enough, that’s how we became friends. We were having a debate in class, and I made the mistake of underestimating him. Well uh…he completely destroyed me.”

Virgil’s laugh turned into a snort.

Logan looked down, slightly embarrassed. “That was a while ago though. I went to talk to him after class and to apologize for misjudging him. We started talking, and I realized that he was very smart.”

Virgil nodded. “Emile seems like a fun guy.”

Logan and Virgil chatted somewhat awkwardly for a little longer, before Logan realized his class started soon. They exchanged phone numbers, agreed to talk more, and then said goodbye. Virgil left to go back to his apartment, not wanting to go back into the cafe and wanting to avoid Roman for the time being.


	4. My Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> did someone say FLUFF (+slight angst bc I thrive on angst)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again I would like to thank my spectacular friend who beta'd this, even though she still refuses to tell me her ao3 account name  
> Also my tumblr is FrogsAndFandoms, so if anyone wants to, feel free to go bother me there!

Logan sighed. He leaned against the wall outside of the university building. Emile’s class should’ve been ending soon, and Logan was done with the two of them ignoring each other. Logan had tried to find him the other day at Mind Palace Coffee, but was stopped by the more urgent situation of Virgil at hand. He was never very good at speaking regarding emotions, but then again that was one of the reasons he was taking psychology.

The other problem was that Logan was not the best at acknowledging when he was wrong. Admittedly, that was something he needed to work on. Logan was reminded of why he was leaning against the outside of a building as suddenly the sound of voices and footsteps grew louder and louder. 

“See you guys later!” Emile smiled and waved, not seeing Logan standing behind him. Logan cleared his throat.

“Emile.”

Emile’s face changed, suddenly turning sad and serious when he saw Logan. Emile fidgeted and looked down at the sidewalk. “Oh. Um. Hey, Logan.”

“I know you’ve been avoiding me, and I wanted to give you some time, but it’s been a few days. We need to talk this out.”

Emile raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t avoiding you.”

Logan joined in on Emile’s confusion. “Well I assumed that you were, since you haven’t talked to me all week and that you’re never in our dorm. Considering the fact that we had somewhat of a fight, with all the evidence it just seemed like the most likely conclusion.”

Emile smiled slightly, his eyebrow reverting to its normal position. “Logan, I was trying to give you space. I thought that if I tried to talk to you too soon, it would only make things worse.” Logan's brow wrinkled.

“Interesting. Well, now that we know the problem, we should think of a way to remedy this, to prevent it from happening in the future.”

Emile scratched his head for a few seconds. “I have an idea!” 

“What is it, Emile?”

“It seems that we both agree giving each other space is a good idea. But at the same time, waiting too long to talk about the issue isn’t working.” Logan looked at Emile and smiled.

“So you’re proposing a compromise between those ideas.”

“Exactly!”

“That’s actually an excellent idea. Maybe if we combine those two methods but set specific rules then we can find a more efficient way to solve our issues.”

Emile nodded. “Alright, so how about this. We give each other some space for a small amount of time, just enough to diffuse the situation a bit more and give us time to think.” Logan put his hand on his chin, deep in thought. 

“A day seems like an adequate amount of time to think things over and calm down.”

“Good idea, Logan. Then after the day is up, we schedule a time where we can talk things out, because I think our main problem right now is communication.”

“I do agree with that, communication was one of the main roots of this predicament.”

“Well, we still haven’t really talked about the issue that made us ignore each other. And since we’ve already skipped the step of giving each other space, why don’t we just talk things out now?”

Logan shifted and fidgeted a bit. “Though a part of me wants to avoid talking about this altogether, I do realize that this is an important part of maintaining a healthy friendship, and the issue must be solved at some point.” He sighed. “It wasn’t much of your fault anyway. I just got embarrassed and lashed out, and I apologize for that. I need to start keeping a better grip on my emotions.”

Emile shook his head vigorously. “Lo, don’t act like you were the only one at fault. Sure, there were some things you could have handled slightly better, but it’s the same for me. I shouldn’t have made that rude remark about you not liking metaphors, and I shouldn’t have kept being pushy and asking about Patton when it was obvious you were uncomfortable with the topic.”

Logan blushed a bit and stared at the cement. “Well, um, I will concede the fact that you were not entirely wrong.” Emile tried to hide how obviously he wanted to know about this.

“Oh?”

“I do actually find Patton to be quite…well…attractive.”

By this point Emile was quite visibly holding back a grin. “So…do you think you would ever consider asking him out?”

“I don’t know about that yet. I do know, however, that I would definitely like to get to know him.”

“Weeeeeell, I can maybe try to set up a time for us and maybe one or two of his coworkers to hang out.”

“If possible, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“I’ll ask him when I go get coffee tomorrow morning.”

“By the way, Emile, they kind of happened to be out of the kind of coffee that we normally buy at the supermarket, and I don’t know when they’ll restock, so I might come with you to the cafe for a bit until they do.” 

_Falsehood_ , Emile thought. Despite being able to tell that Logan was lying, he nodded. “Alright then, we can get coffee in the mornings before class.”

“Well, I’m quite glad that we’ve cleared up these issues, although unfortunately I do have class soon, so I should leave.”

“Don’t wanna stop you from being 15 minutes early to class like always.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “That’s a bit of an overstatement. I’m never 15 minutes early to class. The earliest I've been is 10 minutes.”

Emile raised an eyebrow and gave Logan a knowing look. “Suuuuuuure.” Logan rolled his eyes again, before giving Emile a slight wave and walking to his class.

Meanwhile at the Mind Palace Cafe, Roman and Virgil had a shift together. And it was an awkward one. Their unusual lack of witty banter and smirking caused Thomas to realize right away that something was up. But the fact that they were completely ignoring and even glaring at each other told Thomas that this was going to be a problem. A problem that they were probably never going to solve on their own. So after their shift was over, Thomas corralled the two into the storage room at the back of the cafe.

“So. What happened?”

Both were quiet, still refusing to look at each other.

“Talk to me or each other. _Now_.” said Thomas in an uncharacteristically aggressive way. 

The two grumbled. “His Royal Awfulness over here walked in on me singing, and decided that even though he knows I’m uncomfortable with it, he could listen in on me.”

Roman sputtered. “Well, first of all, I didn’t have much of a choice. Would you have rather noticed that I was listening then? No! You would’ve gotten mad at me. I couldn’t exactly leave, because I needed to grab my dorm key, and either way you would’ve noticed if I left.” He crossed his arms and pouted.

“If you knew that I would be mad, then why the fuck would you bring it up later?”

“Virgil. _Language_.” Virgil glared at Thomas. 

“I’m sorry. I meant if you knew I would be mad, why the frickin’ frackin’ frogger would you bring it up later?”

Thomas grimaced. “You know what? Cursing is fine.”

Roman frowned. “I mean, it's just…you’re so good, so I didn’t really understand why you would be so embarrassed about it, but I still didn’t think confronting you then and there would be a good idea. You’re just really talented, and I thought it would help if someone maybe told you how cool you actually are.” He shrugged a little and continued pouting, still not looking at Virgil.

Virgil sighed. “Look. Maybe you think so, but I don’t. And if you haven’t noticed, I have a tendency to get pretty anxious over these kinds of things. Although…I will admit that I probably could have been a little nicer when you tried to talk to me about it, and you were right that I wouldn’t have wanted you to confront me right then and there.”

Roman smiled softly. “Well, I, um…I appreciate it, Virgil.”

The two baristas now seemed less tense, and while they still shifted around a bit, they appeared to have resolved the majority of the issue.

Thomas clapped his hands together, and Virgil and Roman jolted slightly in surprise. “Well, I’m hoping that that’s settled, but either way you two can go now.”

Virgil and Roman got up and headed for the door of the cafe. Just as they walked out the door, Roman stopped Virgil. “Hey, I just wanted to say...I’m sorry. I was kind of shitty to you, and I should have made more of an effort to understand your feelings. I’ll try to work on that.” Virgil tried to act indifferent, but a very small smile managed to slip through.

“Uh...thanks, Princey. I mean, yeah, you were pretty shitty. But then again, so are most people. You’re one of the first to try and understand.” The two stood awkwardly in silence for a few minutes not looking at each other in an attempt to hide some very prominent blushing. Thankfully, both of them were so oblivious that it didn’t matter anyway.

Roman managed to break the silence. “Well, see you later Harry Pouter.” Virgil raised his eyebrow and smirked.

“That’s the best you’ve got, Donald Dork?”

Roman scoffed and walked away with his nose pointed to the sky, but gave Virgil a small smile before he left. Virgil walked away after putting on his headphones, because all that social interaction had worn him out, and he didn’t feel like inviting the chance of having to talk more.


	5. Better Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. It's been a bit. I'm gonna be honest, I procrastinated a lot. And now that things are starting back up again and i'm getting busier, updates will probably be scarce :/
> 
> I am very proud of how this chapter ended up though, and i'm glad that if I won't be updating for a while, this is the chapter that will be my last for a bit.
> 
> And so, I would like to thank my lovely amazing wonderful spectacular friend who still refuses to tell me her ao3 username because she is a jerk (tiffany I know you're reading this, come at me bro)

“No.” Virgil glared. “Absolutely not.”

“Aw c’mon, kiddo, it’ll be fun! Besides, I’ll be there if you get too nervous.”

“Don’t call me kiddo, you aren’t that much older than me. Look, Patton, you’re great and all, but there is literally no way I’m going to meet up with a bunch of strangers and hang out with them for a few hours.”

Patton pouted and looked Virgil straight in the eyes. Virgil grumbled and jerked his head away.

“I can’t believe you were able to convince me to do this,” Virgil said sullenly, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.

Patton smiled proudly. “Hmm? What was that?”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, keep playing dumb, you know I’m susceptible to that little pout thing you do.”

Patton hid a smirk under the guise of an innocent smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Virgil rolled his eyes again and stared at the ground to avoid eye contact with anyone as much as possible. For the human personification of sunshine, Patton could be surprisingly devious. “Where are we going, anyway?”

Patton winked. “It’s a surprise.”

“Yeah…I don’t like the sound of that.” 

“Well, since we all like a lot of cartoons and nerdy stuff, we thought that we would have fun at a fantasy themed cafe!”

“Speak for yourself, Pat.”

Patton gave Virgil somewhat of a patronizing look. “Now c’mon, kiddo, I know you like some nerdy stuff just like the rest of us. And even if you don’t, they are very kind people, so play nice.”

“Stop calling me kidd—”

Virgil was cut off by Patton’s abrupt announcement of, “We’re here!”

Virgil looked up at the purple storefront, peering through the glass windows. The sign read “The Dragon-Witch” in shining gold cursive letters, with little stars and swirls painted around each letter.

Virgil snorted. “The Dragon-Witch?” He looked over at Patton. “Did Roman name this place or something?”

“Actually, he did!”

Virgil nearly froze in disbelief. “I’m sorry, he did what now?” 

“He helps out a lot here, in fact. He does acting and performances, especially for younger kids who still eat up all the dashing prince stuff.”

Virgil couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy knowing that Roman had told Patton this but not him. When they were done admiring and taking in the colorful storefront, 

Patton pushed open the door and the two walked inside.

Logan and Emile were sitting at a booth situated in the back corner of the cafe, right next to a quite large but adorable smiling stegosaurus plush. Emile immediately jumped up and started waving frantically. “Hey guys! Over here!”

Patton greeted Emile and started walking over to the table. “Hi!”

Virgil walked towards Patton with his hood up, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact. Patton looked at Virgil and folded his arms, prompting him like a dad telling his kid to thank the grocery store cashier. “C’mon kiddo, at least say hi.”

“Hi.” Virgil muttered, still staring at the ground and refusing to take off his hood.

Patton frowned. “Can you please make eye contact this time?”

Virgil grumbled a bit, and looked at Emile and Logan, pushing his hood back. “H-” He stopped short when he saw Logan. “WAIT. YOU?”

Emile and Patton looked at each other, concerned. “You two know each other?”

Logan seemed as nonchalant and unperturbed as ever. “Ah, yes. We bumped into each other recently and had a short conversation. Virgil, was it? I was not aware you were the coworker Patton had mentioned.”

Virgil managed to regain his composure. “Yeah, uh…I didn’t know either. Patton forced me to come and didn’t really tell me much.”

Sensing a bit of possible tension, Emile stepped in. “You two don’t have any issues with each other, do you?"

“No, not at all,” Logan answered calmly.

“I was just a bit…caught off guard is all,” Virgil said, his voice still a bit shaky.

“Alright, well then why don’t we order some snacks and find a few games!” Emile was a bit confused, and knew they definitely weren’t telling him everything, but he figured he could pry it out of Logan later. Besides, there didn’t appear to be any immediate problems. And with that, Patton and Virgil sat down at the booth next to Logan and Emile. Patton took off his jacket and scarf, folded them and placed them neatly on the seat next to him. Virgil still refused to take off his hoodie.

The four of them took turns choosing games to play and things to do. Emile and Patton chose first, simultaneously agreeing that they had to dress the others up in the fantasy and medieval themed costumes that the cafe provided. Logan rolled his eyes and Virgil protested, but secretly they both enjoyed it. For Logan’s outfit, Patton decided to choose something that Logan would like. He picked out a monocle, a suit, and a few other things that would suit a steampunk gentleman. Emile was in charge of Virgil’s costume, and while he didn’t know Virgil very well, he decided that Virgil would be more in favor of something darker. So he opted for a classy evil king getup, complete with a dark shining crown. When the outfits were revealed, the two were touched, but they pretended to be indifferent.

Next was Virgil’s turn to pick an activity, and he went with something a little more suited to his taste. He spotted CLUE almost immediately, and when it was his turn he grabbed it from the cafe’s stack of board games. Logan raised an eyebrow inquisitively. “I’m surprised. I would not have taken you for a fan of a game that mainly revolves around strategy and intelligence.”

Virgil shrugged. “What can I say, it’s a kids’ game about murder.”

Logan considered that to be a satisfactory answer. The group played for around 45 minutes, until Logan skillfully deduced that the murderer was, in fact, Professor Plum in the study with the candlestick. No one was too surprised that Logan had won, but Virgil did appear a bit annoyed about the results. “I could have sworn it was Colonel Mustard.” 

“Well better luck next time, kiddo. Besides, you still did a great job.” This was not exactly the response Virgil was looking for, but he didn’t feel like being annoyed at Patton. 

“Oh! Logan, it’s your turn.” 

“Actually, Patton, I did not have much of an activity in mind, and the game of CLUE took much longer than expected, so we should probably skip my turn and head back.”

“Aw c’mon Lo, there has to be something you want to do.”

Logan blushed slightly at the sudden use of nicknames. “Well, if you insist…I could probably find something.” He stood up and walked over to start looking around the shop for something of interest. Emile and Virgil looked at each other and smirked knowingly. Patton was entirely oblivious. After about five minutes, Logan returned to the booth. “It’s not too exciting, but I thought it might be fun to play a card game.” He set a deck of playing cards on the table. “Virgil and Patton, do you two know how to play spit?” 

“I do, but Patton doesn’t.”

Emile suddenly had a mischievous look in his eye. “Logan, why don’t you teach Patton how to play quickly while Virgil and I do something else?” 

Logan was glaring daggers at Emile, but Patton seemed not to notice. “That sounds great! So, Logan, where should we start?” Logan spent the next five minutes teaching the basic rules of the game to Patton, while Virgil and Emile gossiped about them five feet away. After he was done teaching Patton, they decided that they should play a quick round. Logan let Patton win, but if Patton noticed he clearly didn’t care. The four boys got some pastries to go and left the shop, walking and talking cheerfully in the chilly winter air. 

While Patton and Emile were busy talking about their favorite She-Ra characters, Virgil walked up to Logan. “Hey, uh, I just wanted to thank you for not saying anything about the other day.”

“Oh, it was no problem, that was obviously a topic you were uncomfortable with, so I simply refrained from mentioning it in the company of Patton and Emile.”

Virgil held back a grimace, clearly a little annoyed at Logan’s literal interpretation but not wanting to be rude. “I just mean that it was nice of you to consider my feelings. The thing is, Patton is great and all, but if he found out that happened, he’d go berserk with overprotective dad stuff.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “I am confused, what do you mean by ‘berserk with overprotective dad stuff’? Do you view him as a father figure?”

“I just mean he’s very…caring, and he tries to be like a dad. Although that might be obvious with those terrible puns of his.” Logan nodded his head, seemingly trying to forget all of the horrible jokes that had been told that day. “He does his best, but sometimes I just need some time to work things out on my own.” 

“Well, I can certainly understand that. Especially considering the situation involves your mutual coworker. Speaking of which, if you do not mind me asking, were you able to improve the situation?”

“We were kind of ignoring each other so our boss made us apologize and stuff.”

“Was this an ideal solution?”

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, we’re talking now, and at least he apologized, so that’s nice i guess.”

Logan nodded. “That is good to hear.”

Virgil seemed confused. “Why do you care so much about something that didn’t affect you at all?”

“You were in distress, and I felt obligated to help, considering that I was probably the most qualified person around to assist, and it didn’t seem as though anyone else had noticed or planned to help.”

“Oh. Well anyway, just…thanks.”

“You are very welcome, Virgil.”

Virgil sighed. “Now that that’s over with…” He smirked. “Let's talk about Patton.”

Immediately, Logan’s face flushed, and not from the temperature. He looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Virgil.

Virgil’s face fell. “Or…um, we don’t have to if you’re too uncomfortable.” 

Logan looked back up. “It’s alright that you are curious. Patton is your coworker after all, but I would rather not talk about that particular subject right now, especially when I need more time to figure things out. You’ve probably noticed this, but I’m not the best at things related to feelings.”

Virgil nodded. “It’s whatever, I’m not gonna force info out of you.” He shrugged. “Do what you gotta do.”

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Emile and Patton still chatting amongst themselves until Patton chimed in, “Hey Logan, who’s your favorite She-Ra character?” Emile gave Virgil a silent look of oh boy here we go as Logan began a long lecture about how he did not like cartoons, as the scientific mechanics were inconsistent and completely made up, and often the characters that were supposed to be genius scientists were spouting pure nonsense. 

Emile cut Logan off about 15 minutes in. “So what he means to say is that his favorite character is Entrapta.”

Logan sputtered angrily for a few seconds before giving in. “Yes, Entrapta is my favorite.”

Patton began to talk about his favorite She-Ra moments the rest of the way until they had to split up. Patton, Logan, and Emile headed to the college campus dorms and Virgil headed to his apartment. Logan wasn’t particularly interested in the topic of what Patton was talking about, but he made an effort to still seem very intrigued and engaged in what Patton was saying.


End file.
